FCVBA Club History Part II

​​Part I covered special happenings in the first 23 years of the Fighting Cock Volleyball Association’s existence (1957–1978). The following segment chronicles the next 36 years (1979–2014) since then to the current date. With this, we have now just entered our 59th year of continuous play. Be aware, though, that there has been some debate in the past about our start date. Some of our former members contend that we actually got started in 1956, but that is unverifiable anymore. So, we will stick with the written word. And just like the Lord’s Bible, our Fighting Cock bible isn’t entirely accurate either. Both rely upon old memories and word-of-mouth communications prior to documentation.

For the next 36 years our venues were more stable, but not completely stable, than those of our nomadic earlier years. From 1979-1983 we continued playing on Wednesday evenings at the St. Joan of Arc gym, a period spanning roughly 15 years there. It came to an abrupt end. During the last year there, cars were being vandalized in the parking lot during play. The crowning blow was an armed robbery. Four teens in ski masks entered the gym brandishing hand guns and relieved 12 of us of our rings, watches, jewelry, wallets, car keys and even our winter coats. At that point we said to SJA: “Addios, it’s been a fun gig, but we’re out of here.”

Somehow, we landed at the White River Community Center (formerly White River Elementary School), not far from downtown Ravenswood. We played there on Tuesday nights (Wednesdays were not available) from 1983-1984. From there, we moved over to the Washington Township Administrative Offices (formerly Wyandotte Elementary School) on E. 79th Street because the Tuesday night WRCC bail-out option was not desirable. At some point we played in Northview Middle School off of Westfield Boulevard. Boy, was that a nice gym! But, Northview M.S. shut down for the entire summer, so back to Wyandotte we went for the summer months (but on Tuesday nights).

St. Pius School built a new gym in 1990 and a handful of our members were parishioners. They were instrumental securing the gym for us on Wednesdays and we have played there regularly since, except for the month of July in the last 5-6 years when they shut down for the entire month.

When our primary gym has not been available, these have been our alternate venues: Castleton Business Park Fitness Center, an Elementary School gym in Carmel, St. Matthew gym, Immaculate Heart of Mary gym, Optimist Park in Broad Ripple, Doug DeGlopper’s sand court and the backyards of various FCVBA members. Our watering holes for our post-game activity have included Kennington American Legion Post #34 (both locations), the Northside Knights of Columbus, Taylor’s Pub, Time Out Lounge, Red Key Tavern, Birdies, Bubbaz’s Pub, Hooter’s in Castleton, a bar in the Keystone Square Shopping Center, Mickey Quinn’s Pub (Thanksgiving), Katie O’Connor’s Pub, Rookies and The Rook. In our younger days after going to the Legion or K of C for beverages, some would then go to the Tee Pee Restaurant or Perkin’s for a late night breakfast.

Over the years we have had a handful of 3rd generation sons/sons-in-law play occasionally making their papas quite proud. In 1994 Mike Chrapla was appointed (anointed?) Club Treasurer taking over the reins from Adolph Chrapla, who had been the Club’s only Treasurer up to that point.

During this timeframe we have maintained many, but not all, of our traditions that were spawned in our earlier years. Yes, we still have our “goofy” rules but we have fewer of them. For the most part we have sponsored a Winter Party (former Christmas Party) and a Summer Outing. Yes, we continue the January 1 volleyball game tradition, only with a new flare – sort of a pitch-in. The original FCVBA bible (Old Testament) containing rosters, speeches from the Awards Banquets and old pictures has been maintained, and a second volume (New Testament) has been created and updated with documents, rosters and memorabilia for the subsequent years. The “Nose Guard” jacket and the framed picture of “Vollus Ballus” still exist, but the whereabouts of the ornate necklace given to the recipient of the “Fighting Cock Super Star” award are unknown. Maintaining traditions is a tribute to our FCVBA founding fathers’ legacy and they would be proud of us “younger players”.

Some new social activities to build camaraderie have also been instituted in more recent years: monthly luncheons at truly local restaurants, and field trips to Butler University basketball games, Bonge’s Tavern, Indianapolis Indians baseball games, Mike Surak’s farm and probably other places I have now forgotten. We also developed a website at www.FCVBA.com. The website contains pictures of past parties and a video with a poorly sung version of our Fighting Cock anthem.

For those who have been in the Club for some length of time, it has been a fun and amazing journey on how FCVBA has evolved. As Bud Watts, our current most-tenured Fighting Cock, says: “All through the years, the FCVBA has been blessed with highly resourceful members who have demonstrated a relentless search for accommodations for our Wednesday night passion.” That’s the spirit that embodies our Fighting Cocks.
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And this is not the final chapter…
Mike Chrapla
July 20th, 2014